All Chapters of THE FATE-STEALER’S ASCENSION: STRIPPING THE HERO BARE: Chapter 41
- Chapter 50
147 chapters
Chapter 41 The Only Breeze in Town
"Stand together?" a cold, familiar voice echoed from the high balcony. "Is that what you call it when you're all keeping one eye on the exit and the other on your neighbor's pocketbook?"The assembly went dead silent. Every head whipped upward. Standing on the carved jade railing was Jian Chen. He wasn't wearing a mask anymore. He was draped in his full royal-violet regalia, the [Shadow Emperor's Authority] radiating from him like a physical wave of gravity. Behind him, Fubune and a veiled Ruoxi stood like harbingers of the abyss."JIAN CHEN!" Sect Leader Hu screamed, his Qi flaring in a frantic, uncoordinated surge. "Guards! GUARDS!""The guards are currently taking an unpaid sabbatical in the hallway, Hu. You should really check your employee's loyalty more often," Jian Chen said, hopping down and landing in the center of the table. He didn't even draw a blade; he just stood among their tactical maps, looking bored. "So, I heard you were discussing my retirement plan. Any good ideas
Chapter 42 The Story Doesn’t Want You
"So is selling cultivation slaves, Wei. But you didn't have a problem with that when the coins were golden, did you?" Jian Chen stood upright, his spatial energy roaring. He reached into his storage ring and produced fifteen small, black obsidian jars. "Fubune, get the brushes. If they can’t be righteous, I’ll at least make sure they’re obedient."One by one, the "Lords of Justice" stood up. One by one, their hands shook as they dripped their life-essence into the black ink. The ritual didn't just bind their souls; it signaled the total exodus of support from the Imperial Throne. In a single hour, Jian Chen hadn't just defeated a hero; he had dismantled the structure that supported him. He had stripped the 'Son of Heaven' of his entire infrastructure.[Extraction SUCCESSFUL. Protagonist Halo: Early Righteous Alliance Support... DRAINED.][Host receives: [Faction Cohesion Deterioration (for opposing sects)] + [Cultivation Sanct
Chapter 43 He Sacrificed Everything For Nothing
The shockwave from Lin Fan’s suicidal strike slammed into the pavilion like the fist of an angry god. Shards of white jade and ancient wood rained down in a blinding slurry, but as the dust cleared, the sight that met Lin Fan’s bleeding eyes wasn't a dead villain. It was a goddess standing beside a ghost.“Look at that, Ruoxi. He really thinks he’s in a tragedy,” Jian Chen said, his voice slicing through the ringing in the air. He didn't even have a scratch on his violet silk. His hand remained casually rested on Ruoxi’s waist, the [Territorial Qi Domination] making the falling debris hover and orbit around them like tiny, jagged planets. “Hey, Fan! You’re getting dust on the new carpet. Do you have any idea how much those sect leaders paid for this place?”“Let me go! Ruoxi, get away from him! He’s twisting your mind!” Lin Fan shrieked, his white-gold Qi flickering like a candle in a hurricane. He tried to take a step forward, but the air around his boots thickened, pinning him to th
Chapter 44 The Shattered Ivory Icon It
Seconds later, they materialized high above the Imperial Martial Arena. The atmosphere here was electric—not with terror, but with a disgusting, blinding joy. Thousands of spectators filled the circular tiers, their voices a synchronized roar for the man in the center of the pit. Prince Rong was a masterpiece of propaganda. Clad in ivory armor that glowed with a soft, divine light, he stood over a defeated opponent, his hands raised in a gesture of humble victory. He was handsome, radiant, and currently holding the Sunstone Compass—a legendary artifact that hummed with the warmth of a thousand dawns.“He looks so... perfect,” Li Min muttered, her Mirror Root sensing a frequency of Qi that was almost disturbingly stable. “Master, that compass... it’s protecting his entire meridian system. He isn't leaking a drop of shadow. How do we break a man who doesn't have a single crack?”“You don't break the man, Li Min. You break the world's perception of him,” Jian Chen whispered, his gaze mo
Chapter 45 The Foreclosure of a Soul
“No... please... the crowd... they must know...” Rong wheezed, looking up at the people who were once worshiping him. They weren't cheering now. They were throwing rocks. They were cursing his name. The hero had been stripped of his skin in under five minutes.“The crowd? They don't know anything except who gives them the best show,” Jian Chen stated, reaching out his hand toward the compass. “And I’m the director of this particular disaster. System! Strip the Resource! I want the Sunstone Compass and the Public Acclaim!”[Extraction Sequence Initialized. Target: Prince Rong. Protagonist Halo: Early Public Acclaim & Resources... Draining... 40%... 80%... 100%.]The golden light from the compass suddenly stopped trying to resist. It surrendered. It poured out of the Prince's chest and into the artifact, and from the artifact, it flowed directly into Jian Chen’s palm. Rong let out a hollow, silent scream, his beautiful face aging fifty years in a heartbeat. The [Void Heart] he’d prided
Chapter 46 That Sound Wasnt The Wind
"Listen, did you guys hear that?" Jian Chen muttered, his voice dropping into a register that made the hair on Li Min’s neck stand straight up. He was staring into the reflective surface of the Sunstone Compass, his fingers trembling ever so slightly against the cool jade casing. "Hear what, Master? The only thing I hear is the wind trying to blow us off this damn roof," Fubune replied, her eyes scanning the dark skyline of the capital. She shifted the weight of her twin daggers, her posture coiled like a viper. "We just decapitated the Emperor's influence. We should be halfway to the Eastern Gate before the 'Immortals' finish regrouping. Why the hell are we stalling?""My shadow," Jian Chen whispered, ignoring her. He stood up slowly, the violet glow in his eyes pulsing in sync with the erratic needle of the compass. "The voice said to look at my shadow. Fubune, tell me—does it look like me? Or is it taller today?"Fubune loo
Chapter 47 A Heartless Mastery
"Empathy? Souls? God, I’m getting a headache," Jian Chen sighed, pacing around the old master. He picked up a small, wooden bowl from a tea table and crushed it in his hand, letting the splinters fall like snow. "I don't want peace, Ling. I want versatility. And I don't need 'soul.' I just need the data. Hand over the manual, and I might leave you enough of a Dantian to keep your blood pumping.""You seek the impossible. The Heart cannot be taken by a man who possesses no heart," Ling countered, his hands moving slowly, tracing an invisible circle in the air. "The very spirit of the manual will reject you. It will tear your meridians apart before you can even read the first page.""Master, he's telling the truth," Li Min whispered, her eyes fixed on the manual tucked inside the old man's robe. "The Mirror Root sees it... it’s not just a book. It’s a sentient vibration. If it enters your system while you're this discordant, it’ll be l
Chapter 48 The Interest of Fate
"Whoa," Fubune said, her hands already on her hilt. "Master, don't look at me like that. You just gave me the 'meat market' vibe, and I’m not in the mood for an audit.""Relax, Fubune. Your rhythm is currently in sync with mine," Jian Chen said, his voice now layered with multiple echoes. He looked at his own hands, his presence feeling so heavy it was starting to warp the wooden flooring beneath his feet. "I feel it. Every technique... every movement in the northern world. It’s all just... a math problem. And I have the cheat sheet.""Master, your shadow!" Li Min screamed, pointing at the floor.Jian Chen looked down. The violet light was casting a long, dark silhouette across the tiles, but it wasn't standing still. The shadow's hand was slowly, rhythmically tracing the shape of the 'Shattered Mirror' strike he’d just used—except it was doing it backwards. Then, the shadow tilted its head and spoke—a soundless, h
Chapter 49 Falling Five Thousand Feet to Death
The wind didn't just howl; it tore at Jian Chen’s skin like a thousand invisible razors, eager to flay the marrow from his bones. Five thousand feet of empty space felt like a terminal sentence written in gravity. Below, the jagged, mist-covered fangs of the mountain floor rushed upward at a velocity that mocked human survival. Jian Chen’s royal-violet robes snapped like whip-cracks against the gale, his lungs struggling to suck in the thin, icy air of the descent."Master! We’re actually gonna die this time! My internal organs are shifting toward my throat!" Fubune screamed, her voice barely a thread in the roaring turbulence. She was clinging to a broken mahogany banister of the falling pavilion, her fingers bleeding as they dug into the splintering wood."Quit the whining, Fubune! Use the Cinder-Ash to create drag!" Jian Chen roared back, though the blood vessels in his eyes were bursting from the atmospheric pressure. "I told you I don
Chapter 50 The Uninvited Guest of Heavensway
“That’s the idea, bird! If I’m gonna fall, I’m taking the whole damn choir with me!” Jian Chen grabbed the air—not the literal air, but the spatial strings of the falling white light. Using the [Ascendant Heart Manual] logic, he didn't deflect the "righteousness." He acted as a bridge. He forced the Ghost of the past and the Light of the future to collide right at his solar plexus. The collision was absolute. The silver specter screamed as it was pulled through the column of white-hot law. The two energies, diametrically opposed, tore at each other within Jian Chen’s nervous system. He was a capacitor being forced to hold the charge of a collapsing universe.“The laws! The laws are buckling!” the Voice in the white light shouted, sounding less like a god and more like a terrified child. “Anomalous merge detected! Narrative structure compromised!”“Good!” Jian Ch